Faces of hypnosis challenges viewers to reflect on how their latent assumptions about hypnosis have been constructed and maintained through an exhibition that depicts hypnotherapy in a new light.
LSE anthropologist Dr Nick Long spent 16 months living and working with hypnosis professionals. They all said the same thing: that while hypnotism has a lot to offer, many people mistrust it because of its associations with mind control, vaudeville and the supernatural. They wished more people understood what they actually did. This exhibition presents photographs, videos and artefacts that reflect the variety and complexity of what it is like to be a hypnotist, with a particular focus on Indonesian hypnotism. Various visual and material installations highlight disparate representations of hypnosis in the global public sphere, illustrate everyday realities of life as a hypnotist and address the dichotomous interplay between the two in how hypnotists present their work to clients and the public.
This exhibit is organised by LSE Anthropology in association with LSE Arts, and is supported by the ESRC.
About the contributor
This exhibition is curated by Dr Nick Long, associate professor at LSE Department of Anthropology. Nick works at the intersection of social, psychological and medical anthropology, with particular regional interests in Indonesia, the Malay World, and Aotearoa New Zealand. He has already published several articles and book chapters on this research, including ‘Suggestions of Power: Searching for Efficacy in Indonesia’s Hypnosis Boom’, which was awarded the 2019 Stirling Prize for Best Published Work in Psychological Anthropology.
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